Luke Maake: How you use social media can have serious consequences

In multiple ways, the youth of today make up a very unique generation primarily because of one large factor: the internet. We are the first generation brought up with full access to the vast resources the internet provides. Among those resources, of course, is the ability to tap into snapshots of other people's lives through social media outlets.

With social media, it takes merely a few clicks of a mouse or taps on a phone to get a screen full of information about your friends and their activities. You can share with the world what you're doing and how you're feeling, or you can simply communicate directly with your friends. Social media serve as a platform that allows for an unprecedented level of intercommunication and connectedness. However, as 10 would-be Harvard University students recently found out, social media can be both a blessing and a curse.

In mid-April, Harvard admissions officers revoked the admissions of 10 students who were found to be sharing obscene jokes and memes in a group chat. The chat contained images concerning the Holocaust, child abuse and other dark themes. While the chat was private, and not officially affiliated with or acknowledged by Harvard, admissions officers found out about it and promptly revoked the admissions of the students.

For better or worse, social media, and the internet in general, have become ingrained in many aspects of society. As the students experienced, colleges (and employers) use social media to gauge the character and integrity of those who wish to join their institutions.

This incident is not the first of its kind and will not be the last. It does, however, raise questions as to just how much of what we do on social media is, or should be, visible to the public. It's one thing to publicly post offensive images, and an entirely different thing to do so in a group filled with like-minded individuals who share your sense of humor. It's an interesting reality we live in in which a private image-sharing chat among friends can have a substantial impact on their future.

Granted, the photos they shared were extremely offensive and touched on a wide variety of sensitive topics. Additionally, Harvard makes it clear to incoming students that behavior deemed morally or ethically questionable can jeopardize their admission.

But do the photos they shared truly reflect on their character? Evidently, to have been admitted into Harvard in the first place, these students were judged to be intelligent, enterprising, active members in their communities. They also had the common sense to restrict their twisted humor to a private chat — and yet, unfortunately for them, it still saw the light of day. Is it fair to judge them entirely based on their sense of humor, when that sense of humor wasn't forced on anyone who didn't enjoy it?

Those aren't easy questions to answer, and I suppose this occurrence points to the simple fact that what you post on social media, whether you like it or not, becomes a part of you, something that, in the eyes of society, defines what type of person you are. Even when you think you're in a private chat among friends, you never truly know if someone is going to be offended by what you post and choose to bring it to the light of day.

According to an incoming Harvard freshman, a majority of his peers supported the decision to bar the students from admission, and public opinion seemed to agree. In the eyes of many, the outrageousness of the students' posts went well beyond the bounds of acceptable humor. To others, though, it seems ridiculous that privately sharing offensive photos can result in getting one's college admission revoked. However, this is a reality that we all need to become adjusted to, because incidents such as this will occur as long as people are irresponsibly posting on their social media pages.

The internet may seem like a getaway from real life, but it's far from it — the internet and real life are irrevocably linked. It's a simple lesson to learn, but many, such as the would-be Harvard students, can fail to grasp it. Everyone, but particularly the youth, needs to seriously think about what they post. Failing this, our futures may suffer for it.

Luke Maake, a senior at Emmaus High School, is opinion editor for the school newspaper, The Stinger.